Philadelphia City Paper, December 18th, 2014 by Philadelphia City Paper

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cpstaff We made this

Associate Publisher Jennifer Clark Editor in Chief Lillian Swanson Senior Editor Patrick Rapa Arts & Culture Editor Mikala Jamison Food Editor Caroline Russock Senior Staff Writers Daniel Denvir, Emily Guendelsberger Copy Chief Carolyn Wyman Contributors Sam Adams, Dotun Akintoye, A.D. Amorosi, Rodney Anonymous, Mary Armstrong, Meg Augustin, Bryan Bierman, Shaun Brady, Peter Burwasser, Mark Cofta, Alison Dell, Adam Erace, David Anthony Fox, Caitlin Goodman, K. Ross Hoffman, Jon Hurdle, Deni Kasrel, Alli Katz, Gary M. Kramer, Drew Lazor, Gair “Dev 79” Marking, Robert McCormick, Andrew Milner, Annette Monnier, John Morrison, Michael Pelusi, Natalie Pompilio, Sameer Rao, Jim Saksa, Elliott Sharp, Marc Snitzer, Tom Tomorrow, John Vettese, Nikki Volpicelli, Brian Wilensky, Julie Zeglen Editorial Interns Indie Jimenez, Alyssa Mallgrave, Nia Prater, Sam Fox Production Director Michael Polimeno Senior Designer Brenna Adams Designer & Social Media Director Jenni Betz Contributing Photographers Jessica Kourkounis, Hillary Petrozziello, Maria Pouchnikova, Neal Santos, Mark Stehle Contributing Illustrators Ryan Casey, Don Haring Jr., Joel Kimmel, Cameron K. Lewis, Thomas Pitilli, Matthew Smith Human Resources Ron Scully (ext. 210) U.S. Circulation Director Joseph Lauletta (ext. 239) Account Managers Colette Alexandre (ext. 250), Nick Cavanaugh (ext. 260), Amanda Gambier (ext. 228), Sharon MacWilliams (ext. 262) Classified/Adult Advertising Sales Alexis Pierce (ext. 234) Editor Emeritus Bruce Schimmel

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ARD C T F I G

contents Cover story, see p. 8

Naked City ...................................................................................4 Movies.........................................................................................17 22

Events..........................................................................................19 26

Food ..............................................................................................24 34

Sex ................................................................................................30 cover photograph by neal santos design by brenna adams

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naked

the

20 35

thebellcurve

city

CP’s Quality-o-Life-o-Meter

[ - 3]

A fter 14 years with the Phillies, shortstop Jimmy Rollins is traded to the L.A. Dodgers. “I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged,” Chooch writes in his diary. “Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice. But still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they’re gone. I guess I just miss my friend.” 22

[0]

[ + 2]

[ - 2]

[0]

[ - 4]

Four hundred cement trucks pour 4,000 yards of concrete over 12 hours to create the foundation for the Comcast Innovation and Technology tower. Next come the welders to construct a skeleton of steel, unobtanium and hubris. T he city drops its eminent domain case against West Philly artist James Dupree, which would have replaced his studio with a supermarket. His latest installation, by the way, is a life-size replica of a working supermarket.

NO COLONIAL WATERBOARDING?: The ban on cruel and unusual punishment, now the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, was a bit farther down the list in this early draft of proposed changes. hillary Petrozziello

[ individual liberties ]

C omcast admits it accidentally charged its subscribers an “unintended fee” and will refund the money. Customers with complaints are offered a free swim in the company’s luxurious new cement pool.

EXQUISITE TImIng

P olice Commissioner Charles Ram- sey complains that a political cartoon in the Bucks County Courier Times — in which children ask Santa for protection from the police — is in poor taste. “Furthermore,” says Ramsey, “Mar- maduke needs to be leashed, Prince Valiant’s overdue for a civil forfeiture and I’m tired of sending officers out to separate the Lockhorns.”

By Jon Hurdle

T he Inquirer reports that Philly police have been lax in enforcing traffic laws, often failing to arrest drivers with outstanding warrants, sometimes leading to tragic accidents by repeat offenders. “Funky Winkerbean sucks,” says Commissioner Ramsey.

This week’s total: -7 | Last week’s total: 0 | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

The Bill of Rights returns to Philadelphia just as constitutional questions over claims of torture and police brutality roil the nation.

mid the heated national debate on the Senate’s report alleging torture by cIA officers and sustained protests about decisions by grand juries to clear police involved in the deaths of black men in Ferguson and on Staten Island, the National constitution center (Ncc) unveiled a new exhibit — featuring one of 12 surviving copies of the bill of rights. City Paper contributor Jon Hurdle asked Ncc President Jeffrey rosen whether the document’s appearance here might spark more debate about the constitutional questions at the heart of these events. Here is an edited version of that conversation, which took place on dec. 12, a few days before the exhibit’s opening. City Paper: What does the constitution say about the themes that

come out of the Senate’s cIA report, and does the fact that the bill of rights is just about to appear in Philadelphia put the National constitution center at the center of the debate on the report? Jeffrey rosen: The debate about torture raises constitutional

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questions, as does the debate about race and crime in Ferguson, and the mission of the National constitution center, which comes from congress, is to disseminate information about the U.S. constitution on a nonpartisan basis. So, we view it as our role … to host debates about the leading constitutional questions of the day, to present the arguments on both sides, and let viewers and readers and listeners make up their own minds. There are many constitutional issues raised by the torture reports. The most obvious thing to note is that it’s only because of the bill of rights and the constitution that we have a system where the Senate is checking and strongly criticizing the executive branch, and that’s a good thing. The founders would have expected no less. There are also constitutional questions raised about whether the alleged conduct of the cIA violated the constitution or not, and what should be done about it.

Many constitutional issues are raised by the torture reports.

CP: And if it did, in what respects did it violate the constitution? Jr: right now, I have to speak in my role as head of the

constitution center and just say that there are many serious >>> continued on page 6

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“Stop. Shooting. people.” CeaseFire adds an RV with a bold message to its fight against shootings. By Natalie Pompilio

hey were driving slowly through the streets of North Philadelphia looking for trouble, just like they do every day. They knew from experience that even if they failed to find conflict, it would find them. They weren’t trying to hide. And that’s a good thing because it’s hard to miss a 33-foot-long Winnebago cruising city streets, especially a black one with the words, “Stop. Shooting. People.” on its side. Philadelphia CeaseFire considers this RV yet another way to reduce gun violence — and not by using it as a shield between shooters and their targets. The motor home — a used 1995 model purchased for $9,000 — is the program’s new mobile office, a way to introduce the nonprofit to those who are not familiar with it and to remind those already in the know that the group’s there and ready to help. “This gives us another opportunity to reach the community and to let them know how they can reach us,” said Philadelphia CeaseFire Director Marla Davis Bellamy. “Even more important is the ‘Stop shooting people’ message. Maybe it will remind people to stop and really think.” CeaseFire, which has been operating in Philadelphia since 2011, approaches gun violence like a public-health issue, something akin to smoking-cessation programs or AIDS-prevention campaigns. Philadelphia CeaseFire is based at the Temple University Medical School’s Center for Bioethics, Urban Health and Policy. It focuses

[ the naked city ]

M A R I A P o U C H N I k o VA

[ gun violence ]

on selected neighborhoods in the 22nd and 39th Police Districts in North Philadelphia, including the area around Temple’s campus. It currently has seven full-time outreach workers and one part-timer who build relationships in the community. Many of the staffers grew up in the neighborhoods where they’re now working. Most of them have criminal records. Both factors, CeaseFire leaders say, make them better at their jobs. The Winnebago, introduced to the public in mid-November, is being used to respond to shootings, giving wary witnesses a place to talk privately. It will also be a fixture at community events like block parties and Philadelphia CeaseFire’s annual basketball tournament. During a recent ride in the RV through North Philadelphia, outreach worker Shakia Fudge, 31, talked about how she and her colleagues can defuse a volatile situation. “If it’s two different blocks beefin’ it’s easier for them to get us in there to mediate. They know us from the neighborhood. They know we don’t deal with the police,” she says. With the police, fellow outreach worker Robert Harris, 38, said, “It’s just lock ’em up and then forget about it. The police don’t

provide this — he gestured to the many brochures in the motor home for GED programs, job placement agencies and substance abuse counseling options. “All they provide is handcuffs,” he says. Since January, outreach workers have conducted more than 125 mediations. Fudge detailed how a recent intervention went down: A woman she knew from growing up in the neighborhood called with fears her teenage son would be harmed after striking a woman during an argument. They were doing drugs together at the time. Fudge talked to people in the woman’s family who were seeking revenge. Both parties had been in the wrong, she told them. Why was this older woman doing drugs with a kid anyway? They’d both made mistakes, she said, and it would be better for everyone if the matter was forgotten. “This is more of a passion than a job,” she said. “I grew up ducking bullets. I know parents don’t want their children to grow up ducking bullets, too.” (editorial@citypaper.net)

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About t h e L is t As usual, w e took the h ollow exerc instructing ise of rankin our critics to g albums ve submit lists were paste ry seriously of their 10 fa d into a spre . We b e g a n vorite album adsheet. Po by credibility. D s of the yea ints were as uplicates w r. Their resp signed bas ere combin onses the process e d on rank, fre ed. Sums w , “sort data quency and ere totaled. ” was clicke critic righted. Lab Math was a d and a gre els were loo foot. Six da ater list beg ys ke d in up. Ties we to an taking sh A final list a re broken vi ppeared an ape. Wrong a amateur a d all who sa s were no special tr u w g it quaked fo ury (mostly eatment. Th r they knew owls). e Wa r o n D its truth. Lo rugs crushe cal artists re d everyone ceived fair and squ are. —Patric k Rapa

Ty Segall

Manipulator (Drag City)

THE WaR on DRugS

lost in the DreaM (SeCretly CanaDian)

That one guy called it “beer commercial rock,” but listen: As much as Philadelphia loves its meathead guitar music, this third album by The War on Drugs is not that. Lost in the Dream is a soft, cozy, vulnerable batch of songs about loneliness, dread, suffering, disappearing, running on empty. There’s also glory — somewhere along the edges of the grand parade, revealed in the traces of the vanished, always alive in the fire that burns brightest in us and seeks that same blaze in others. Big electric guitars, too, but the tones are gloomier, the saxophones smoother, the keys more mournful, and the gorgeous expanses of melody and warm drone zoom out like so many roads to nowhere and everywhere. Over the last few years, we’ve seen TWOD’s Adam Granduciel go from playing in KurtVile’s band to, arguably, surpassing his former partner. Despite burdensome comparisons to Dylan, Springsteen and Petty, Granduciel’s emerged as one of the few captivating rock ’n’ roll musicians of our time. And Lost in the Dream is his most personal, most commanding work yet — an album we will return to in our finest and our darkest hours, because floating in its waves and winds there is something beautiful and true. —Elliott Sharp | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

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ty Segall’s no stranger to the City Paper top 21, but with Mani pulator, he’s achieved his highest ranking by a considerable margin. and he did it with an oh-so-slightly-archaic career move: making a double-album. Segall’s ambition has grown, but that doesn’t mean doing an HBO mini-series or hiring rick rubin to produce. Manipulator has that analogmachine-in-the-garage sound of his, and Segall’s still the master of t.rex-meets-theStooges-meets-the-archies. this time, instead of firing off three varied albums in one year, he’s pretty much combined all his interests and obsessions in one place. (Of course, he did have time to release another compilation, $ingles 2, last month.) Manipulator’s got all the Segall hallmarks — fuzz-and-falsetto fusillades (“Feel”), twisted anthems (“the Singer”), acoustic-led ruminations (“Don’t you Want to Know (Sue)”), even some funky rhythms (“Mister Main”). it’s easily one (or two or three) of the best records of the year. —Michael Pelusi

Ex Hex

rips (Merge) 2014 was … well, it was a rough year. Which is why the debut album from the D.C. power trio ex Hex proved to be revelatory: Here were three women effectively thumbing their noses at ideas of great rock in favor of distilling

power pop to its essence, and inserting just enough swagger to add hard-rock heft. Rips is by no means a paint-by-numbers homage to aOr’s glory days of working for the weekend while not being able to drive 55 — deeper listens reveal finger-flexing riffs and timesignature-defying drum fills. But no album better exemplified the radical act of ditching dudes and their dude-created problems in favor of hitting the road at top speed, with monster guitars blaring as the wind whipped through your hair and you sang along at top volume. —Maura Johnston

Run the Jewels

run the Jewels 2 (MaSS appeal) recently, ?uestlove took to instagram to issue a challenge for artists to “push themselves to be a voice of the times that we live in.” this sentiment rang especially loud and clear in hip-hop circles in the wake of two high-profile killings of Black men by police officers, followed by the failure of two grand juries to indict any of the officers involved. Despite the genre’s long anti-authoritarian tradition, most contemporary hip-hop is not in tune with the feeling of hurt, dismay and anger that many of its listeners have been experiencing recently. enter run the Jewels — Brooklyn rapper/producer elp and atlantaborn MC Killer Mike. the duo’s second record combines dense, cacophonous beats and aggressive lyrics to create a thoroughly futuristic set of tracks that builds upon the foundation laid by hip-hop firebrands like public

photo by neal santos

5 9

Enemy and AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted-era Ice Cube. The songs on RTJ2 are not always overtly political, but when Mike pulls out a heart-wrenching narrative about being harassed and arrested by the police in front of his wife and children on “Early” — it becomes painfully clear that Run the Jewels is up to the challenge of articulating the intensity of the times. —John Morrison

Sharon Van Etten Are We There (JagJaguwaR)

This is the most fun you’ll ever have getting emotionally eviscerated. Sharon Van Etten’s most cohesive album to date, Are We There is a catalog of turmoil, from the boredom of long-term intimacy to the struggle to end toxic relationships. This isn’t a love story, though, but rather an unforgiving, mesmerizing breakup album, whose centerpiece, the exquisite, six-minute jam “Your Love Is Killing Me,” sees Van Etten gutting herself for her tormentor. “You like it when I let you walk over me … You love me as you torture me.” Like its agonized lover, the album leaves you exhausted but exhilarated. Are We There also contains moments of dark hilarity, as when she slurs, “I washed your dishes but I shit in your bathroom” on “Every Time the Sun Comes up.” If loving this album doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger. Or at least a little less dead inside. —David Faris

St. Vincent ST. VincenT

(LOMa VISTa/REpubLIC)

It’s been a pleasure to hear the touch of siren in annie Clark’s crystalline voice, her affinity for strange imagery (snorting a crushed piece of the berlin wall) and her love of noise slowly emerge over the seven years of her solo career. On St. Vincent, she adds some welcome bounce to those guitar manipulations and melodies that make you want to sing along to cockeyed art-rock songs you can’t sing. at her best — “prince Johnny,” “Huey Newton,” “Regret” — she makes you think, too. No one else is doing this: No one else can. —Dotun Akintoye

Spoon

They WAnT My Soul

(LOMa VISTa/REpubLIC)

The latest update of Spoon corp.’s Staccato Rock Suite offers a peek into the quintessential romantic relationship while dodging the usual heartbroken bugs and features.

They Want My Soul is more honest than that, concentrating instead on all the confusion, nostalgia and fury that comes with being with another person. On the stomping, gleefully bitter “Rent I pay,” singer britt Daniel spits, “Everybody knows just where you been going/ Everybody knows the faces you been showing,” and then glides into the dreamy, shimmering “Inside Out” with a melancholy recognition: “I’m just your satellite.” Throughout, we’re given relatable (and reliably catchy) glimpses into a love-and-loss story — “and you’re breaking and you tell me I’m your only friend/ and it starts all over again”— and by the album’s end it’s not rage, but a familiar tug on the heartstrings: “I knew your New York kiss/ Now it’s another place/ a place your memory owns.” Here, we can sing and sigh along. —Mikala Jamison

Angel Olsen

Burn your Fire For no WiTneSS (JagJaguwaR) angel Olsen’s astonishing voice sends rock critics fumbling for better words than “mesmerizing” and “haunting.” The appeal of the singer-songwriter’s latest album, though, is how effectively she’s able to put that voice — equal parts trembling Roy Orbison, soaring Neko Case and defiant Johnny Cash — to work. The strengths of Burn Your Fire for No Witness are evident on its one-two opening shot, where Olsen deftly pivots from the sound of ghostly folk records creeping in from another room on “unfucktheworld” to the more immediate indie rock of “Forgiven/Forgotten.” when those halves come together in service of Olsen’s lingering tales of loneliness and pleas to push back against despair, it makes a hell of an antidote for a year full of nothing but bad news. —Bob McCormick

Parquet Courts SunBAThing AniMAl

(wHaT’S YOuR RupTuRE?)

Is parquet Courts still america’s favorite most recent “band that sounds kinda like pavement?” The brooklyn-based outfit did some work this year, releasing their third and fourth albums in the space of six months (besides Sunbathing Animal, they gave us Content Nausea under the name parkay Quarts). More importantly, they’re leaving those pavement comparisons in the dust. Sunbathing Animal is an art-rock smorgasbord: funny, Talking Heads-sounding love songs (“Dear Ramona”), anxiety-ridden freak-outs (title track) and /// continued on page 10

Philly Band of the year:

nothing

Is it our job to be cunning? That’s the question we ponder every December when we try to decide who gets the “local band/artist of the year” title. War on Drugs won the Top 21 voting in a landslide (see p. 8), so if you think they’re a worthy choice you are correct. But Adam Granduciel already graced our cover once this year and, given the worldwide acclaim he and the band have been deservedly scoring, we figure they don’t need us anymore. For 2014 we decided yes, let’s be cunning. Let’s pick an amazing, hardworking, hard-touring rock band with a killer album who could probably use the attention. With that as the criteria, the band Nothing emerged from the crowded field and just wouldn’t go away. Guilty of Everything is a ferocious full-length debut. It’s sonically and thematically heavy, thick with pharmacological shoegazing gorgeousness but anchored by the players’ backgrounds in blunt-force hardcore. Guitars swirl. Drums pound. It’s spooky, dramatic, emotional, formidable and fearsome. Sometimes all at once. Play it loud, cause that’s how they do it live. Nothing believes in the healing power of volume, in baptizing listeners in waves of transmogrifying noise. Sound guys hate them. Frontman Nicky Palermo, lord of the hushed scream, likes it when he gets swallowed up in the dense migraine maelstrom. But when his voice does rise above, it burns with heartache, isolation and defiance. Explosive stuff. —Patrick raPa Nothing plays Making Time Fri., Dec. 19, 9 p.m.-4 a.m., $2, with DJs Dave P. & Sammy Slice, Mike Z., Dave Pak, Rocktits!, Broadzilla and Greg D., Voyeur, 1221 St. James St., makingtimeisrad.com.

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9 17

minute-long, creepy and cryptic tracks (“Vienna II”). And in between are all those smart, sharp indie rock songs that lured us to this band in the first place. Probably the most fun album of 2014. —Sean Kearney

FKA twigs

LP1 (Young Turks)

The debut album by this magical, musical British sprite was one of the year’s most enchanting revelations, a feast of airy vocals and spacey beats. once a backup dancer for the likes of kylie Minogue and Taio Cruz, FkA keeps things bumping throughout the trip-hoppy LP1 (much like her previous projects, EP1 and EP2). The first two tracks, “Preface” and “Lights on,” are a light appetizer to awaken the senses before we slide into mini-hits like “Two Weeks” and “Pendulum” for a heavy, decadent main course. And let’s finish up with “Video girl” and “give up” for dessert, sweet and formidable as Black Forest cake. Actually, who are we kidding? This whole album’s a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries: daring, sensual and refreshing, and we’re left craving more. —Indira Jimenez

Courtney Barnett DoubLe eP: A SeA of SPLit PeAS (MoM & PoP)

one of last year’s most desirable imports, A Sea of Split Peas got a proper stateside release in 2014 and promptly wooed everybody who’d slept on it the first time around. An Aussie singer-songwriter with clever lyrics, ball-of-yarn arrangements and a voice that does tender as well as it does brazen and blunt, Courtney Barnett has a sound so clean, and so classic, that comparisons come flying in from all corners — is she more like Dylan or Dando, Phair or Crow? — but most of them bounce right off. After all, it takes a singular talent to dream up a goofy, gorgeous line like “I’m breathing but I’m wheezing/ Feel like I’m emphysemin’/ My throat feels like a funnel filled with Weet-Bix and kerosene,” and sell it with a shrug and a smile. —Patrick Rapa

Flying Lotus

From the tolling bells that open the album through the erratic sonic tapestries that ground top-flight contributions from kendrick Lamar and Herbie Hancock, this album envelops listeners in a proprietary language through which it must be understood. Very few jazz-derived crossovers are this explosive anymore, and in an era where abrupt deaths in the inner city are taking up national headspace, we should be paying attention to what Ellison is showing us. —Sameer Rao

Beck

Morning PhASe (CAPIToL) stripped of Beck’s characteristic electronic trickery and rapid-fire lyrics, Morning Phase is an easy-to-swallow capsule of contemplative woe designed for these days of dissatisfaction. Essentially a sequel to 2002’s Sea Change — the parallels are apparent even in the album art — Morning Phase is a more refined take, with Beck’s vocals free of that crying-for-hours congestion. If Sea Change was written after a nasty breakup, Morning Phase could be the product of a spiritual retreat among the southwest’s red rock monoliths. stark, philosophical lyrics (“somewhere unforgiven/ Time will wait for you”) complement majestic orchestral swaths, making the songs feel both honest and curative. To keep an otherwise heavy album afloat (one track consists almost entirely of the word “isolation”), country-inflected songs like “say goodbye” and “Country Down” add some levity, even if the hurt is still there. —Paulina Reso

Strand of Oaks heAL (DEAD oCEAns)

The fourth strand of oaks record is the rarest of rarities: a rock suite that demonstrates how rock music can literally save our lives. Timothy showalter is a generous, empathetic guide, leading us from “goshen ’97,” where a lonely kid sings smashing Pumpkins songs in front of the mirror, to “Heal,” which finds salvation in sharon Van Etten’s voice, to “JM,” a tribute to late songs: ohia mastermind Jason Molina that acknowledges how our heroes’ art can help us find the light even if they never find it themselves. showalter’s sweet tunes remind us, in word and deed, why it all matters. —M.J. Fine

You’re DeAD! (WArP) High-concept jazz/electronica/hip-hop records about premature death as a psychedelic trip aren’t supposed to be accessible, but steve Ellison makes it so on You’re Dead! to dizzyingly beautiful effect.

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Temples

Sun StructureS (HEAVEnLY)

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Moppy-haired young things with a knack for stitching together the best bits of

bygone genres and hanging them on a sturdy Brit-pop backbone, Temples is comfortable with that old, familiar sound — and they act brand-new making it. But it’d be unfair to classify the English quartet as some pious tribute act. Taut debut album Sun Structures has all the bright-day harmonies, pedal-warped guitars and swinging London sensibilities to satisfy the psych-lite crowd, but there’s much more there if you stop and look. The roadhouse groove of “The guesser” shares a seat with the Easterninflected “sand Dance” and the dramatic “The golden Throne,” which could score the next 007 flick; the energizing clap-along pace of “keep in the Dark” and “A Question Isn’t Answered” would sound right blaring from the PA of an alien sports arena in a distant, acid-addled universe. What’s even better — all this translates uncannily well to the stage. —Drew Lazor

Sylvan Esso

SYLvAn eSSo (PAr TIsAn) Equal parts cozy and coy, sylvan Esso’s fertile transgenre cross-pollination (dub-indie? folkstep?) brought us electronic pop music on an invitingly human scale. nick sanborn’s homespun, basssavvy beat work recasts Amelia Meath’s folksy, feisty Mountain Man warble — and vice versa — to yield some of the year’s purest pop pleasures (“Play It right”) and teardrop-tender slow jams (the lilting shakers-and-heartbreak of “Coffee”) as well as — with the schoolyard-ready D.I.Y. techhouse of “H.s.k.T.” — perhaps 2014’s most improbably infectious dance party anthem.

—K. Ross Hoffman

Real Estate AtLAS (DoMIno)

real Estate’s third full-length is a cinematic jour ney through the new Jersey suburbs: filled with perfect families, all of them sad. The songs on Atlas are tinged with a concrete but distant grief, like returning to your old ’hood to find everything the same. “And even the lights on this yellow road,” laments singer Martin Courtney, “are the same as when this was our town.” But if this record is invested in nostalgia, it also delights in simple joys, like talky guitar lines and breezy choruses that feel instantly familiar. The ’burbs are dull; that’s why you moved to the city. —Kate Bracaglia

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18 21

Wye Oak

Shriek (Merge) This Baltimore duo’s fourth album is a stunning achievement, with woozy keyboards, stuttering beats and lyrics that manage to pull off the neat trick of being both clear-eyed and gorgeously poetic. That primary songwriter Jenn Wasner decided to do this all while eschewing the guitar — the instrument that had previously defined her band’s hazy pop Americana — makes Shriek even more wondrous. The dance-routineready shimmy of “Schools of eyes,” the synth freak-out that swirls around “glory,” the slowbuild-from-grogginess of “Before” — all of these sound like steps on a path toward selfdiscovery, one where the only way out can be found after the past has been set afire. —Maura Johnston

Lydia Loveless

Somewhere elSe (BloodShoT) 19

You could call Somewhere Else the best lucinda Williams album of 2014, but that wouldn’t be fair to Williams, who released the wise and weary Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone seven months later, or to loveless, whose third full-length is stunning enough to make you swear off all the other women whose tangy, twangy tunes turned your head before she came along. Nervy, melodic songs like “To love Somebody” and “Verlaine Shot rimbaud” wed raw heartache to tight riffs with such passion, such effortlessness, it seems nigh impossible to sustain over an entire career. But we’d love to hear loveless try. —M.J. Fine

who calls his own music “jizz jazz,” but there is some depth to what this 24-year-old, goofy, gap-toothed Canadian delivers on Salad Days. While still holding onto his wacky persona, deMarco has created a collection of quirky pop songs that illustrate the sort of sly self-awareness that’ll leave any twentysomething nodding their head in agreement (i.e. “you’re no better off living your life than dreaming at night”). Salad Days is lyrically more serious than deMarco’s previous releases, but his crooning voice and lo-fi aesthetic allow him to work that sweet spot between satirical and sincere. —Sarah Heizenroth

Hurray for the Riff Raff

Small Town heroeS (ATo) In all those classic murder ballads (and most of their modern reimaginings), women are always getting strangled, drowned and shot by men who then have the nerve to set the story to music and throw a woe-is-me cell block pity party. With a wry wit and a whiskey tongue, Alynda lee Segarra calls bullshit on that tired, old template all over hurray for the riff raff’s deep, dark and handsome sixth record, Small Town Heroes. “The whole world sings like there’s nothing going wrong,” she marvels on “The Body electric.” Then she hints that she’s the hero here: “delia’s gone but I’m settling the score.” even at its grimmest, the album finds a way knock you over with rustic beauty and wary, weary hope. —Patrick Rapa

Mac DeMarco Salad dayS

(CApTured TrACkS)

Wisdom and reflection would be the last thing to expect from a guy

lists upon lists: Want more calendar-oriented music criticism? Try the Internet! Mary Armstrong lists her favorite roots albums of 2014. Peter Burwasser does the same thing for classical. Concert photographers Meredith Kleiber, Erika Reinsel and Chris Sikich pick their favorite pics of the year. Plus we break down the top 21 by telling you who voted for what. Go here: citypaper.net/music.

rounding out the

top 50 22 Future Islands

37 TV on the Radio

New 23 The Pornographers

38 Azealia Banks

24 Iceage

39 tUnE-yArDs

SingleS (4Ad)

Brill BruiSerS (MATAdor)

Plowing inTo The Field oF love (MATAdor)

First Aid Kit

STay gold (ColuMBIA)

26 Caribou

our love (Merge)

Too BrighT (MATAdor)

nikki nack (4Ad)

Lea 40 Jessica Mayfield

make my head Sing … (ATo)

41 Shabazz Palaces

leSe majeSTy (SuB pop)

here and nowhere elSe

(CArpArk ANd MoM + pop)

To Be kind (YouNg god)

29 Restorations

lP3 (SIdeoNeduMMY)

Jolie Holland

Taylor Swift

wine dark Sea (ANTI-)

1989 (BIg MAChINe)

we come From The Same Place (SluMBerlANd)

44 Steve Gunn

way ouT weaTher

(pArAdISe of BAChelorS)

45 Bleachers

STrange deSire (rCA)

32 Alt-J

46 Behemoth

33 Ariel Pink

47 Hozier

Day 34 AInSunny Glasgow

48 Sun Kil Moon

ThiS iS all yourS

(INfeCTIouS)

Pom Pom (4Ad)

Sea when aBSenT (lefSe)

Wussy

aTTica! (ShAke IT)

36 Doug Paisley (No QuAr Ter)

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Broke wiTh exPenSive TaSTe (proSpeCT pArk)

27 Perfume Genius 42 Cloud Nothings 28 Swans 43 Allo Darlin’

STrong FeelingS

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SeedS (hAr VeST)

The SaTaniST

(NuCleAr BlAST)

hozier (ColuMBIA)

Benji (CAldo Verde)

49 Stoneburner

SongS in The key oF arrakiS (dISTorTIoN produCTIoNS)

50 La Sera

hour oF The dawn

(hArdlY Ar T)

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t photo by neal santos

o p l o

local More Philly artists who kicked ass in 2014.

c a l

Bleeding Rainbow

Cayetana I saw Cayetana play one of their first shows in mid-2012. It was in some art gallery and while they weren’t great — nobody is, right out of the gate — Augusta Koch, Kelly Olsen and Allegra Anka already possessed the thick-as-thieves chemistry that defines their debut album, Nervous Like Me (Tiny Engines). The two years’ worth of growth feels utterly palpable on this record, and that synergy among three best friends takes form in a tight set of lo-fi, punkish power-pop. —Marc Snitzer

Brielle Young local artists are putting a new spin on the downbeat, ethereal R&B that’s been leading the genre these past few years, and Brielle’s easily the cream of the crop. The 24-year-old singer/flautist/producer’s long-delayed debut EP, The Rough Break-Up, weaves revealing odes to despondency and love into a lush tapestry of beats and synths with far greater technical sophistication than many artists with bigger names. Get on board now. —SaMeer rao Cayetana photo by franco vogt

Brielle

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Aaron Freeman

a host of MCs and singers play the furtive cast emerging from the shadows to lament their lacks: of time, money, choice, hope. “The Dark (Trinity)” and “The Unraveling” somehow tap into the hypnotizing rhythm of a year when all the old wounds became new again. —Dotun akintoye

John Flynn Philly folk institution John Flynn delights by staying true to form on the self-released Poor Man’s Diamonds. He’s a romantic with a sense of social justice (“[When] our lesser angels say to cut and run/ We just got to do like Woody done”) and equally strong sense of humor (“Don’t put it up on eBay like a case of caviar/ If no one wants to play it, bury me with my guitar”). All that adds up to a strong sense of self: “I’m too young to quit/ And I’m too old to change … I am what I am/ Ain’t never gonna be anything but.” —Mary arMStrong

Little Big League Michelle Zauner outdoes herself every time she drops a record. On Tropical Jinx (Run for Cover), she and the LBL all-stars are always shifting gears, from jangly balladry to sing-along indie pop to heavy and righteous rock bravado. This was one of the most anticipated records of the year and they delivered in style. —Patrick raPa

Restorations

After getting his feet wet with a klatch of Rod McKuen songs, the former “Gene Ween” released his first true solo album, FREEMAN (Partisan), which discusses his hard-won sobriety in a voice that’s tremulous but focused. Combine that with quirkily arranged melodies steeped in blues, pop and lovely psychedelia, and it sounds like everything we’ve always loved about this guy. —a.D. aMoroSi

LP3 (SideOneDummy) feels like a psych experiment: What happens when we drag our guarded, internalized anxiety and paranoia kicking and screaming onto an arena-sized stage? In a flurry of multitracked guitars and heavy organ purrs, bolstered by an enormously realized sense of purpose, Restorations turns neuroses into empowering, Americana-infused codas that deserve to be shouted, fists clenched, from some blazing mountain peak. Even on “The Future,” the closest thing to a love song here, the sandpaper-throated Jon Loudon is still nervous — “I sit inside/ And freak out about money and time” — but sounds cool as hell. —Marc Snitzer

The Roots

Split/Red

The fragile “concept” on … and then you shoot your cousin (Def Jam) is a despair so profound it verges on religious agony. ?uestlove and Kamal Gray set the scene: dark, rain falling, dread not in the air but transubstantiated with it. Black Thought and

Guitarist Stephen Buono usually goes the improvisational jazzhead route but Split/ Red’s debut, Serious Heft (New Atlantis), is all noisy, visceral instrumentals and earthbound, working-class screeds. Imagine SST-style hardcore wonkiness (a la The

Aaron Freeman

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Minutemen) with shards of blues and funk. —a.D. aMoroSi

Pattern Is Movement If Pattern Is Movement (Hometapes) had come out in 2011, it would’ve been among the biggest albums of the year. That’s not to say that the Philly duo’s self-titled is anywhere close to dated — on the contrary, it’s the most progressive and devoted manifestation of R&B-meets-indie-rock fusion we’ve seen yet. Carried through with exceptional musicianship, PIM’s trademark quirkiness and angularity get sanded off into gorgeous heart-on-sleeve beauty on standouts like “Suckling” and “Wonderful.” It would’ve made everyone forget Dirty Projectors three years ago, but now, it’s just maybe the most underrated album of 2014. —SaMeer rao

Halfro So The Roots released an album this year and came home for maybe one show to support it. But this is Philly, and live-band hip-hop lives on in an exciting young quartet called Halfro. Their debut album Squalor (self-released) delivers airtight tunes with atmospheric keys, acrobatic basslines, crisp snare-drum pops and battle-grounded rhymes — including namedefining guest spots from collaborators The Bul Bey andVerbatum Jones on standout track “Change of Tide” — that justify this group’s growing rep as an always-onpoint live act. —SaMeer rao

A Fistful of Sugar This bustling nest of singers and songwriters never met a tradition it didn’t get along with. They throw party on Perspicacity, inviting Hungarian, Balkan and Irish sounds and forcing them to mingle with early jazz and honky-tonk. —Mary arMStrong

Bleeding Rainbow Released back in February, Interrupt (Kanine) is one of those perfect-on-itsown-terms indie rock records, a brilliant set of songs that accomplish all of Bleeding Rainbow’s aesthetic goals: be tight, be loud, be pretty and vent like a volcano all night long. “Cut Up,” “Time & Place,” “Start Again,” “Images” — so many glorious, thumping, double-caf statements of modern frustration on this one. —Patrick raPa

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7 Things You Must Know Before Putting Your Home Up for Sale Philadelphia - A new report has just been released which reveals 7 costly mistakes that most homeowners make when selling their home, and a 9 Step System that can help you sell your home fast and for the most amount of money. This industry report shows clearly how the traditional ways of selling homes have become increasingly less and less effective in today's market. The fact of the matter is that fully three quarters of homesellers don't get what they want for their homes and become disillusioned and - worse - financially disadvantaged when they put their homes on the market. As this report uncovers, most homesellers make 7 deadly mistakes that cost them literally thousands of

dollars. The good news is that each and every one of these mistakes is entirely preventable. In answer to this issue, industry insiders have prepared a free special report entitled "The 9 Step System to Get Your Home Sold Fast and For Top Dollar". To order a FREE Special Report, visit http://www.phillysbesthomes.com/ seller_mistakes.asp or to hear a brief recorded message about how to order your FREE copy of this report call toll-free 1-800-560-2075 and enter 4000. You can call any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Get your free special report NOW to find out how you can get the most money for your home.

This report is courtesy of Larry Levin, Coldwell Banker Preferred. Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract. Copyright ÂŠ 2014

movie

shorts

Films are graded by City PaPer critics a-F.

Annie

: New aNNie | BYou could make a good case that Will Gluck’s modernized remake of the 1978 broadway musical, is a better movie than John Huston’s 1982 film version, which has the gilded hollowness of a stage-to-film transfer for which the answer to every question is “make it bigger.” Turning Daddy Warbucks from a war profiteer into a cell-phone magnate named Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) is a canny move, and it turns out foster care can offer just as many cartoon horrors as a Depression-era orphanage. but if Gluck’s Annie is a better movie, or at least one more nattily tailored to the screen, Huston’s is a better Annie movie, which is to say, one considerably less embarrassed about its musical origins. The opening scene, in which a brassy, curly-haired redhead is told to quiet down so Quevenzhané Wallis’ Annie can take her place, recalls those ’80s music videos where heavy metal bands busted into the living rooms of uptight squares, signaling a movie that’s on the defensive from the get-go. Dance numbers are out — didn’t Jay-Z co-produce this thing? — replaced by some half-hearted hip-shakes, and the singers’ voices are Auto-Tuned to death and then buried in the sound mix. (Surely either one negates the need for the other.) New songs by Sia and Greg Kurstin have the flavor of Oasis b-sides (not entirely a bad thing), and bobby cannavale brings much-needed flair to the role of a morally compromised political operative (you don’t say) who is helping Stacks run for mayor. but cameron Diaz’s miss (or is it ms.?) Hannigan doesn’t come close to eclipsing carol burnett’s — the one truly great thing about the original movie — and rose byrne, as Stacks’ workaholic

right-hand woman, is as amiably flavorless as a bread sandwich. Truth be told, neither Annie is particularly good, but at least one conveys a sense of why they’d want to make the movie in the first place. —Sam Adams (wide release)

The hobbiT: The baTTle of The five armies| c+ Peter Jackson finally takes his leave (fingers crossed) of Tolkien’s world with about as satisfying a conclusion as one could hope for from his problematic second trilogy. At a relatively concise two-and-a-half hours, The Battle of the Five Armies is the most focused but least involving installment of Jackson’s Hobbit adaptation. That’s because even after spending more than six hours trekking across middle earth, Jackson has never managed to differentiate most of his band of dwarves from one another, so when some of our heroes fall in battle, it hardly registers. The characters that we do care about — martin Freeman’s bilbo and Ian mcKellen’s Gandalf — are largely reduced to onlookers, popping up occasionally to express concern and then disappearing again. The professed mission of the trilogy, to vanquish the dragon Smaug and reclaim the dwarves’ lost kingdom, is accomplished before the film’s subtitle appears, leaving richard Armitage’s gold-crazy king and Luke evans’ not-quite-Aragorn bard to become its hollow center. Jackson is adept at balancing the epic and the intimate, so the film’s centerpiece, the 45-minute battle sequence, is expertly executed, albeit with little at stake for audiences who have stuck it out this long. It all feels too much like an afterthought, the final consequence of the director’s muchderided decision to pad Tolkien’s slim novel into a bloated trilogy and to uncomfortably overlay The Lord of the Rings’ darker tone over its lighthearted predecessor. Gandalf’s c i t y pa p e r . n e t | D e c e m b e r 1 8 - D e c e m b e r 2 4 , 2 0 1 4 | p h i l a d e l p h i a c i t y pa p e r |

superfluous subplot, meant to set the events of the Rings trilogy in motion, remains superfluous to its conclusion, and Jackson riddles the final moments with hints of things to come that we finished watching a decade ago. —Shaun Brady (wide release)

: continuing tHE BaBadook | aThere is no fear like a child’s, and though the protagonist of Jennifer Kent’s astonishing first feature is a grown woman, the monster that invades her house through the mind of her 5-year-old son brings with it the kind of terror that can’t be banished with logic or a splash of holy water. The Babadook — a name that only sounds silly until you’ve heard it croaked in a voice like the cracking of a tomb — first comes to Amelia (essie Davis) and Sam (Noah Wiseman) in the pages of a children’s book whose illustrations combine the Victorian dread of edward Gorey with the jagged edges of a crude charcoal smear. At first, the boy’s insistence that the creature is real, and inside their house, is just one more thing pushing his mother toward the brink of mental collapse: She’s been

widowed since his birth — the boy’s father died driving her to the maternity ward — and his insistence on bringing homemade anti-monster weapons to school constantly lands him in trouble, to the point where even a mild whine makes her apoplectic. but the babadook starts to make his way into her mind as well, embodying her grief over her husband’s death, and her irrational, unexpressable anger at her son for causing it. We become terrified for Amelia, and of her. Kent, who quotes maria bava and George méliès alongside Skippy the bush Kangaroo, goes back to cinema’s earliest monsters, using jerky stopmotion rather than slick cGI; as the babadook moves toward Amelia at 12 frames a second, your mind fills in the gaps with the stuff of nightmares. Davis’ performance, with its shades of catherine Deneuve in Polanski’s Repulsion, is a tour de force, and Wiseman captures both the innocence and aggravation of a child’s attachment to imaginary worlds. but good as both are, the real star is Kent, who made a masterpiece her first time out.—SA (The Roxy)

Exodus: gods and kings | cI have no idea whether or not ridley Scott is a religious man. After spend-

ing two and a half hours watching him lavishly retell one of the bible’s most vivid stories, that’s kind of a problem. After all, there was never any doubt that cecil b. Demille skimmed his Good book to get to the bits with flesh and spectacle. but Scott’s version of moses’ showdown with the pharaoh is less crowd-pleasing than massappeasing, hedging its bets on the miraculous. christian bale’s moses may or may not be hallucinating the stubborn-child God who orders him to free his people from 400 years of slavery — the patriarch does have a penchant for slamming his head into unyielding surfaces and is often spied angrily talking to himself by righthand man Joshua (a near-silent waste of Aaron Paul’s frenetic energy, putting him in the company of the barely there Sigourney Weaver and ben Kingsley). moses’ guidance through the desert might be sheer blind luck, the parting of the red Sea could be chalked up to currents, and the plagues that afflict egypt are caused by a carefully drawn chain of plausible events, beginning with a visceral crocodile attack that turns out to be this would-be epic’s most thrilling moment. Then Scott gets to the ultimate plague, the death of the firstborn, and realizing that he has no rational explanation just sends a shadow to do the dirty work. That lack of inspiration pervades the film, as the director seems torn between the daunting prospect of recreating oft-filmed moments and the demands of an effects-craving blockbuster audience. The result is a dull paralysis, throwing up a shrug to heaven that should prove unsatisfying to the faithful and the nonbelievers alike.—SB (wide release)

FoxcatcHEr | a-

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18 | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

Although it’s not entirely free of the plodding About America-ness of Money ball and Capote, bennett miller’s latest has a secret weapon at its center, and it’s not Steve carell’s nose. As John eleuthère du Pont, the unstable millionaire who murdered Olympic wrestling champion Dave Schultz (mark ruffalo) on his Newtown Square estate in 1996, carell disappears beneath layers of latex and padding, but he never sinks into du Pont’s skin. That’s where channing Tatum’s performance as Dave’s younger brother, mark Schultz, comes in. Although he was also an Olympic gold medalist, mark was overshadowed by his more charismatic brother, which in Dan Futterman’s version of the story, leads to a psychic bond between him and du Pont. Tatum’s quiet, self-

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lacerating bearing gives the movie its broken soul, part wounded puppy, part attack dog. With an early scene where du Pont and mark look out over the Valley Forge battleground, Foxcatcher lunges for symbolic significance: mark is an abandoned veteran, a national hero, cast aside once he’s served out his term, reduced to regaling middleschool assemblies for $20 checks. but miller’s grasp is sure, and the movie’s steady march toward its tragic foregone conclusion feels inevitable rather than redundant. but on those terms, it’s a powerful simulation of the whirlpool of wealth, and how people sell themselves a little at a time and then suddenly all at once. —SA (Ritz East)

: rEpErtory Film tHE colonial tHEatrE 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville, 610 9171228, thecolonialtheatre.com. Bad Santa (2003, U.S., 91 min.): “I loved a woman who wasn’t clean.” “mrs. Santa?” “No, it was her sister.” Fri., Dec. 19, 9:45 p.m., $5$9. A Christmas Story (1983, U.S., 98 min.): “In the heat of battle, my father wove a tapestry of obscenity that, as far as we know, is still hanging in space over Lake michigan.” Sat., Dec. 20, 2 p.m., $5$9. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, U.S., 130 min.): Pottersville always looked kinda fun, right? Sick nightlife options. Sat., Dec. 20, 5 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 21, 2 p.m., $5$9.

county tHEatEr 20 E. State St., Doylestown, 215345 6789, countytheater.org. Elf (2003, U.S., 95 min.): “So, good news. I saw a dog today. Have you seen a dog? You probably have.” Sat., Dec. 20, 10:30 a.m., $4.

EtHical sociEty oF pHiladElpHia 1906 Rittenhouse Square, 215735 3456, phillyethics.org. Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee (2014, U.S., 90 min.): A documentary focusing on performers ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, made by Dee’s grandson, who will be in attendance. Tickets at lifesessentialsinphilly.ticketleap.com; proceeds benefit West Philly’s Paul robeson House. Thu., Dec. 18, 7 p.m., $10.

[ movie shorts ]

pFs tHEatEr at tHE roxy 2023 Sansom St., 2676399508, filma delphia.org/roxy. Fargo (1996, U.S., 98 min.): “I’m not sure that I agree with you 100 percent on your police work there, Lou.” A 35 mm screening. Thu., Dec. 18, 8 and 10 p.m.; Fri., Dec. 19, 6, 8 and 10 p.m., $5$8. The Apartment (1960, U.S., 125 min.): The comedy classic, starring Jack Lemmon as a corporate schlub who lets his bosses use his bachelor pad for their affairs. Serial infidelity is hilarious! Thu., Dec. 18, 12:30, 3 and 5:30 p.m.; Fri., Dec. 19, 1 and 3:30 p.m., $5$8. Miracle on 34th Street (1947, U.S., 96 min.): A disturbing courtroom drama exploring the crippling dangers of delusional disorder. Sat., Dec. 20, 11:45 a.m., 1:50 and 3:50 p.m., $5$8. Gremlins (1984, U.S., 106 min.): The connoisseur’s answer to the “what’s your favorite christmas movie?” question. A 35 mm screening. Sat., Dec. 20, 5:50, 8 and 10:15 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 21, 5:36, 7:45 and 9:55 p.m., $5$8. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992, U.S., 85 min.): Statler and Waldorf kill it as marley and marley, the roles they were born to play. Sun., Dec. 21, noon, 1:55 and 3:45 p.m., $5$8. A Christmas Tale (2008, France, 150 min.): europe’s most dysfunctional family gets together for a not-so-Joyeux Noël. Get ready to cry en Francais. Mon., Dec. 22, 12:15, 3:10 and 6:05 p.m., $5$8. Bad Santa (2003, U.S., 99 min.) Mon., Dec. 22, 9 p.m.; Tue., Dec. 23, 6:15, 8:20 and 10:20 p.m., $5$8. The Shop Around the Corner (1940, U.S., 99 min.): The double-blind analog catfishing movie that inspired You’ve Got Mail. Tue., Dec. 23, noon, 2:05 and 4:10 p.m.; Wed., Dec. 24, 11 a.m., 1:05, 3:10 and 5:15 p.m., $5$8.

ritZ at tHE BoursE 400 Ranstead St., 2154401181, landmarktheatres.com. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, U.K., 100 min.): Featuring Transylvanian Nipple Productions, Philly’s own very rocky Horror shadowcast. Fri., Dec. 19, midnight, $10.

FrEE liBrary, tacony BrancH 6742 Torresdale Ave., 2156858755, freelibrary.org. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993, U.S., 76 min.): Kidnap the Sandy claws. Sat., Dec. 20, 2 p.m., free.

citypaper.net/events

events listings@citypaper.net | december 18 - december 24

[ your feathers were the color of snow ]

ON THE FENCE: Ty Citerman’s Bop Kabbalah plays The Little Shul on Saturday. eli Koppel

Events is our selective guide to what’s going on in the city this week. For comprehensive event listings, visit citypaper.net/events. iF yoU Want to be liSted: Submit information by email (listings@ citypaper.net) or enter it yourself at citypaper.net/submit-event with the following details: date, time, address of venue, telephone number and admission price. Incomplete submissions will not be considered, and listings information will not be accepted over the phone.

12.18 thursday

Miracles will feature the art of barbara Gesshel, Seena elbaum, Laura Krasnow and mickie rosen, who each work in a different medium. On dec. 21, OcJAc will have a “meet the Artists” reception from 2 to 4 p.m., where the public can meet all four creators. A portion of artwork sales will go to support the OcJAc and its programs. —Nia Prater

[ visual art ]

selection of works largely featuring pieces never before seen in the U.S. The exhibition will feature films, sculpture, sound and performances exploring “where and how human and non-humanity entities come into contact,” like a film showing a person playing a 35,000-year-old flute made from the wing bone of a griffon vulture. Intervals shows in two sites — the PmA and the Fabric Workshop and museum. —Mikala Jamison

allora and calzadilla: intervals

[ visual art ]

Free | Through Tue., Dec. 30, Tue.Thu., noon-5 p.m. and by appt., Old City Jewish Arts Center, 119 N. Third St., 215-923-1222, ocjac.org.

MuseuM adMission oF $20/ Free | Through April 5, 2015, Perelman Building, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2525 Pennsylvania Ave., 215-763-8100, philamuseum.org, and Fabric Workshop and Museum, 1214 Arch St., 215-561-8888, fabricworkshopandmuseum.org.

Just in time for the beginning of Hanukkah, OcJAc hosts a new exhibit, Miracles, which presents work reflecting the themes and mood of the season.

Puerto rico-based artist team Jennifer Allora (who was born in Philly) and Guillermo calzadilla celebrate their first major solo exhibition in the city with a

[ visual art ]

Miracles

challenge 2 of the 37th annual series. Three artists were chosen by judges to be featured at Fleisher right now — explore the unique video installation works of Jesse Gorham engaard, the traditional Japanese craft-infused sculptures of mami Kato and the inspired-bythe-city photo-paintings of Theresa rose. —Mikala Jamison

[ photography ]

“What We see … What We are”

Free | Through Feb. 7, Fleisher Art Memorial, 719 Catharine St., 215-922-3456, fleisher.org.

Free | Saturdays and Sundays through Jan. 18 (except Jan. 3 and 4), 11 a.m.-4 p.m., and by appt., Metropolitan Gallery 250, 250 S. 18th St., 215-545-6655, blog.metropolitanbakery.com.

The Wind challenge exhibition series has been going strong since 1978, and is an annual juried competition that features Philly-area artists. From September to may, three Wind challenge exhibitions take place, and this month features

What We See … What We Are at metropolitan Gallery 250, a nonprofit arts space from the same people who brought us the bakery, has a beautiful friendship with center city’s Science Leadership Academy. After supporting a successful

Wind challenge 2

crowdfunding campaign to purchase the school a new photo lab, the gallery is now showing off some of the students’ finest work. What We See … hopes to channel the artistic philosophy of photojournalist ernst Haas, who has served as an inspiration to the students and their teachers. The show will be open until mid-January, but if you believe that fine art pairs well with alcohol, visit tonight from 6 to 10 p.m., when metropolitan will be serving up free cocktails. donations will be accepted and prints will be for sale. —Alyssa Mallgrave

[ theater ]

slideshoW

$10 | Thu., Dec. 18, 8 p.m., Philadelphia address provided with ticket purchase, slideshow.brownpapertickets.com. back in September, in the thick of the Fringe Festival, City Paper reviewed Josh mcIlvain’s SLIDESHOW, saying it was

“a story that’s relatable and visually stimulating.” The show has an interesting concept: mcIlvain sets up a projector that shows photos of real families and places, while he recites nostalgic prose of his own. He’s refined it since Fringe, but still calls it “a fictional family saga created from real slides of strangers’ long-ago vacations.” Hey, it’s almost the holidays: Warm up for your own family sagas with this unique piece. —Mikala Jamison

12.19 friday

[ classical ]

Piffaro $15-$40 | Fri., Dec. 19, 8 p.m., Trinity Center for Urban Life, 2212 Spruce St. (also Sat., Dec. 20, Chestnut Hill and Sun., Dec. 21, Wilmington, Del.), piffaro.org. One of the most unusual, but

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Celebr ating Ameri can Craft Beer and Classi c Arcad e Games

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Citerman has long fused jazz and punk with an irreverent post-modern attitude. Add a taste of his Jewish roots and you get the sound of Bop Kabbalah, which incorporates his experience playing klezmer music with a similar brash disregard for/familiarity with tradition. —Shaun Brady

[ theater ]

Murray the elf and the Case of the stolen sleigh bells $8-$12 | Dec. 20-28, Act II Playhouse, 56 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, Pa., 215-654-0200, act2.org. Murray the Elf — the lovable sad sack played by Will Dennis — returns for his third mystery-comedy adventure. When a thief steals Santa’s magic bells, Mrs. Claus calls on Murray, who will need the audience’s help to recover them. Versatile performer Andy Shaw plays Santa’s wife, plus Rudy the Reindeer, Luke Cool the Snowman and the bewitching Candy Kane. For kids ages 5 and up. —Mark Cofta

[ metal ]

[ events ]

Pig destroyer $16-$18 | Sat., Dec. 20, 8:30 p.m., with Tombs, Fight Amp and Ultramantis Black, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 215821-7575, r5productions.com. Just at the point when you’re ready to cry uncle to the merry mall Muzak, along comes Pig Destroyer to bulldoze the holly jolly right through the back of your skull. The crushingly intense Virginia-based grindcore band is not only the prime example of guitarist Scott Hull’s gift for confrontational band names (see also: Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Japanese Torture Comedy Hour): It’s also a technically crafted, no-mercy eruption. —Shaun Brady

ensemble returns for a night of holiday classics. Since starting as a basement experiment in 2010, the band has built a repertoire of more than 50 songs that span Detroit, Memphis and Chicago-style soul. This year, the York Street Hustle promises a number of “special surprises,” including appearances from Bunny “Let the Good Times Roll” Sigler and Dr. Dog’s Toby Leaman. —Sam Fox

12.21 sunday

[ soul ]

[ jazz ]

4th annual york street hustle holiday sPeCtaCular

Jazz at linColn Center orChestra

$15 | Sat., Dec. 20, 8 p.m., World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215222-1400, philly.worldcafelive.com. Philadelphia’s 10-piece ’60s soul

$35-$85 | Sun., Dec. 21, 8 p.m., Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org. Thanks to the well-established musical conservatism of head

c i t y pa p e r . n e t | D E C E M B E R 1 8 - D E C E M B E R 2 4 , 2 0 1 4 | p h i l a d e l p h i a c i t y pa p e r |

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22 | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

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foodanddrink

pintsighs Caroline russock on dive bars

LOCUST BAR | 235 S. 10th St., 215-925-2191

Smoking: Yes Jukebox/Entertainment: TouchTunes, video poker and a Golden Tee machine Bathrooms: Squeaky clean with a no-touch faucet Head Count/Tab: Four people, $62 before tip: Two pitchers of Kenzinger, four Jägermeisters, four B-52s. ➤ Walking into locust Bar on a late December Sunday afternoon, I spotted plenty of holiday cheer. The well-worn, wood-panelled bar was decked out in sparkly Christmas regalia, but what really struck me was a poinsettia plant perched atop a booth that had dropped all but one of its red petals. Locust Bar is something of a Center City anomaly, a place where well-used ashtrays and cheap beer prevail in a part of town where craft beer and carefully composed cocktails are the norm. When I placed my initial drink order for two Kenzingers, the pleather-clad, feather-haired bartender was quick to tell me that I should just get a pitcher — it’s a better deal. A mini pitcher and two frosted mugs in hand, I settled back into a booth and my date broke out his recently downloaded TouchTunes app to cue up Toto’s “Africa” on the jukebox. Post Jäger shots and halfway through our second pitcher, we noticed karaoke equipment being assembled near the back door. The MC, an older gentleman wearing an Eagles jersey, got the night started with a heartbreaking rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire.” Because layered shots are always a good idea, my date headed to the bar and ordered a round of B-52s for the table. “You’re high maintenance!” the bartender told him while breaking out martini glasses, the Baileys, Kahlúa and triple sec. After downing the B-52s, the rest of the evening was a mesmerizing blur of karaoke watching. A regular with a Samuel L. Jackson fashion sensibility and a predilection for Billy Joel was among the highlights. (caroline@citypaper.net) 24 | P h i l a d e l P h i a C i t y Pa P e r |

WOOD WORK: Fire-roasted fare and hand-crafted cocktails at Lo Spiedo. neal SantOS

[ review ]

Spit Fire Lo Spiedo, the latest from the Vetri family, is firing on all cylinders. By Adam Erace lO SPiedO | 4503 S. Broad St., 215-282-3184, lo-spiedo.com. Mon.Thu., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sat., 5-10 p.m.; Sun. 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Small plates and pasta, $4-$16; grilled meats, $18-$120; desserts, $8-$12.

he day I saw Vetri’s Jeff benjamin at the Navy Yard was probably four years ago. We were both having lunch at Urban Outfitters’ jet hangar of a cafeteria, and from the view across my salad, the business end of the Vetri empire appeared to be in some sort of meeting. I doubted it was to purchase a decommissioned battleship. A Vetri restaurant in the Navy Yard … At that point in time, you’ll remember, Amis had just opened. There was no Alla Spina, no Osteria at the moorestown mall. The thought of marc Vetri and his team opening a new restaurant in the bucolic bowels of South Philly seemed groundbreaking — and suicidal. Four years later, it still kind of does. Lo Spiedo (‘the spit,’ for the restaurant’s rotisserie cooking) occupies the Yard’s former guardhouse, a handsome red-brick manor with stone porches, colonial-look lanterns and trees twin-

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kling in christmas lights. “Thanks for coming out on a Sunday,” our server said with sincerity. “Not many people do.” The guy was honest, not sulky, about it, and I appreciated his candor when I pressed for a full report: strong hits on both Friday and Saturday nights, happy-hour rushes during the week, decent lunch traffic. Upstairs, in a dining room whose simple furniture, ample windows and wood-wainscoted cream walls evoke a schoolhouse from the massachusetts bay colony, only a handful of tables were occupied. If getting people to eat at a place on North broad Street was a challenge, Vetri and company. have twice as big a task getting folks this far down South broad. but damned if they’re not going to put the best possible product out there. Under the direction of 29year-old chef Scott calhoun, Lo Spiedo has proved to be my favorite effort from the Vetri group — and the most impressive restaurant at such an early stage in its existence. early on, Amis and Alla Spina were hit-and-miss. Osteria moorestown was worse — it’s easily the second-best restaurant in South Jersey now — and the whole rotolo hype at Pizzeria Vetri is lost on me, thanks to a dry batch in the opening months. but Lo Spiedo … Though Lo Spiedo is not without flaws, this carnival of brisket